FiveNines

After you do a search in Google Maps and get the result, one of the options is "Send to GPS." Pretty cool. Now if my Vista HCx only had Bluetooth I could lose the cable.

You are only limited by the size of the card.

Yes, and you could also simply put them both on the same card and switch which map you want by selecting it in the map menu. I have exactly that on a 2GB card in my Vista HCx -- both Metroguide and 2008 Topo.

Have you tried a master reset? With the unit off, hold the "page" key down and the "click stick" down at the same time, then hold the on/off button in until it powers up. It will ask you if you want to continue and it will delete all your additions and set it back to the way it was from the factory. You will have to leave it outside for 20-30 minutes to get a new almanac.

There is only one chipset for the Vista HCx -- MediaTek.

This strikes me as really strange. I've used City Navigator 2008 NT to navigate more than 10,000 miles of roads since I bought it, and it's never once pointed me in any sort of dangerous direction. As others have commented, it will occasionally suggest something silly, or the maps won't be totally up to date, but dangerous? No way! --Larry I think it's more likely that they are pulling it because the unlock key has been broken and is widely available on p2p networks. They already said they were working on a fix to the key-break problem and it would certainly be easier to fix the problem in the maps than in every unit's firmware. And I think it would be better for their bottom-line to make the claim that their software is dangerous and get people to upgrade out of fear than to let it be known that you can use an older version for free. The way to tell will be that if it really is dangerous it should be recalled and replaced with a corrected version. If they don't recall it from customers, then it's probably being pulled because of the key break more than anything else IMO.

Garmin yesterday released new firmware for the three older units that had the "vertical line of death" problem and the release notes said they "updated WAAS" so maybe this is the long-promised correction to that problem. Vista: http://www8.garmin.com/support/agree.jsp?id=95 Legend: http://www8.garmin.com/support/agree.jsp?id=25 Venture: http://www8.garmin.com/support/agree.jsp?id=99

Looks like that WAAS software fix for both the Legend and Vista is finally here.

The way to average with a unit that does not have waypoint averaging built in is to set track log to "log by time" then start a log and let it run for however long you want, and set an approprite time internal as well. For instance log every 5 seconds for 5 minutes, or every minute for 60 minutes. Stop the log when you are done. When you get home, download the track log into a spreadsheet and average the lats in one column and average the longs in another. It's easier if you use decimal degrees rather than DMS. Works great.

The Vista HCx is a vector-based unit and as such will not accept raster maps nor can it show aerial images. Sorry.

No. 2.60/2.60 here and I'm getting highly accurate fixes. You don't have "lock on road" turned on do you? Which map are you using?

Perhaps we are discussing different things. I'm trying to give a way to establish a calibration point at home by using various techniques to narrow down the elevation variation so as not to have to find a bench mark to calibrate to whenever you need to calibrate. You are explaining how to do a routine calibration when starting out on a day of geocaching.

True, but the high accuracy is only if you have a steady ambient air pressure. If it's rising or falling, then it will correct to a false number -- the last one you calibrated for. If you want the highest accuracy -- to a meter or so, then calibrate hourly and record your elevation many times. After a several hours over several days (so as to get a different constellation geometry) you should have your home elevation down to perhaps a foot or so accuracy. From then on you won't need to find a benchmark to calibrate to when starting out on a find -- you can use your home elevation with certainty. I know for sure that the surface of my kitchen table is within a foot of 708 feet above MSL from interpolating from a 1:24K topo quad, checking against a known BM by using the GPSr, and by calibrating it to current air pressure from an NWS station 5 miles away and letting it repeatedly autocalibrate.

Go here: http://www.geocaching.com/mark/nearest.aspx?rnd=0.8495004 And enter your zip code. Look for any benchmark that has "altitude adjusted." You can also read people's reports of finding/not finding the BMs. Searching for BMs is a side-hobby of geocaching with reports and photos and everything. But since you need to calibrate your altitude about once an hour in real life, this method won't work for you. You really need to find the correct altitude where you start at -- at home. Either check a topo map for your home to get the correct elevation or get the barometric pressure from the National Weather Service for the closest weather station and calibrate using that.

The Vista/Legend HCx does NOT collect trackpoints when off. If you have track logging left on when you shut it off, the next time you turn it on it will place trackpoints where it thinks it is (which may not be where it really is) even before it has a satellite lock on. This will result in one or two wildly off points at the beginning of the track log. You can do one of two things to stop it. 1) Turn on track logging only when you want to log a track. 2) Edit the log to remove the one or two stray points at the beginning of the log (or just ignore them).

Or just go here: http://www.geocaching.com/mark/ and search for local benchmarks that are "local adjusted" in your neighborhood. I did and my HCx matched the BM to as many decimal places as it would show.

You have the wrong map datum selected.

I paid $194.99 at REI for my Vista HCx just before Christmas.

Go to Main Menu > Setup > System > Find button on left and see if "Card Info" is listed on the pop-up menu. If it is, click on it to see if the device is reading the card properly. If it isn't seeing the card at all, that is, if the pop-up menu shows "Restore Defaults" and "Software Version" only and not "Card Info", then reseat the card in the slot and try again or try a different card. If the device sees the card, but shows 0% on the card data, reload the maps into the card from MapSource and try again.

That's what I came in to say. At that price, you can't beat it. And it accepts coordinates.

Use webUpdater to check for any updates. When it says "there are no updates, would you like to check for additional updates," check "yes" and continue and it will update the MTK chipset.

Full list: Changes from version 2.50 to version 2.60: Correct German translation of 'delete all waypoints'. Fix data card unlock failure when 2 cards of the same map set are used in one device. Improve sun times for polar regions. Fix issue where ETA in non motor vehicle modes can be unreasonably short. Increase precision of distance measurement to the cursor on the map page. Allow backlight adjustment on the track back point selection page. Fix shutdown when editing Estonian Grid coordinates. Correct daylight saving time for New Zealand. Improve selection of the names of cross roads with NT maps. Correct potential shutdown when viewing a vertical profile. Correct European word translation of 'Find' and 'Mark'. Support multiple languages in American version. Fix screen fading issue in cold temperature. Correct total ascent calculation. Correct direction symbol of vertical speed. Fix reboot issue of GPS firmware update. Correct battery issue of lithium battery.

I hope they don't "fix" that. You are essentially stopped if you are moving at less than 1 mph. The drift rate due to the high-sensitivity MTK chip is often about -- guess what -- a little less than 1 mph. If the rate were set for less than that, it would never show a stopped time. It already reads high as it is.

Very interesting. Can you post some pictures?

Did they both have the same firmware and screen brightness settings?